The US Department of Commerce has entered into a binding term sheet with Canada-based Cameco Corporation and Brookfield Asset Management to accelerate the global deployment of Westinghouse Electric Company’s nuclear reactor technologies.
The strategic partnership is expected to reinvigorate supply chains and the nuclear power industrial base in the US and abroad. This is in line with President Donald Trump’s executive orders in May calling for the US to quadruple the amount of power generated by nuclear plants over the next 25 years.
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According to Cameco and Brookfield, which jointly own Westinghouse with 49% and 51% of shares, respectively, the launch of a nuclear power plant (NPP) construction programme is expected to accelerate growth in Westinghouse’s energy systems segment during the construction phase, along with its fuel fabrication and reactor services business for the life of the reactors.
In a statement, the two companies said: “Upon closing of the transaction and with financing facilitated by the US Government, Westinghouse plans to commence project execution and initiate orders for critical equipment with long lead times, which is expected to leverage the nuclear industry supply chains that were established during the construction of the AP1000 units at units 3&4 of the Vogtle NPP. No timeline is given for construction of the reactors.”
The US Government is expected deploy its financial, regulatory, policy and diplomatic tools to support the objectives of the partnership. The government will be granted a participation interest, which, once vested, will entitle it to receive 20% of any cash distributions in excess of $17.5bn made by Westinghouse. A participation interest is a contractual or legal right to a share of a company’s profits, revenues or other economic benefits. Vesting is the process by which a recipient earns full, unrestricted ownership of that interest over time or by meeting specific conditions.
For the participation interest to vest, the US Government must make a final investment decision and enter into definitive agreements to complete the construction of new Westinghouse nuclear reactors in the US with an aggregate value of at least $80bn. If, by January 2029, the participation interest has vested, and if the valuation in an initial public offering (IPO) of Westinghouse is expected to be $30bn or more, the US Government will be entitled to require an IPO. The participation interest will then directly or indirectly convert into a warrant, with a five-year term, to purchase equity securities equivalent to 20% of the public value of the IPO entity after deducting $17.5bn from the public value.
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By GlobalDataConnor Teskey, president of Brookfield Asset Management, said the partnership “will help unlock the potential that Westinghouse and nuclear energy can play to accelerate the growth of AI in the United States, while meeting growing electricity demand and energy security needs at scale”.
He added: “Brookfield has more than half a trillion dollars invested in the critical infrastructure that underpins the US economy, and we expect to double that investment in the next decade as we deliver on building the infrastructure backbone of AI.”
Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel said the partnership with Brookfield as owners of Westinghouse will be further strengthened through collaboration with the US Government.
“We expect this new partnership to support the global growth opportunities for both Westinghouse’s and Cameco’s nuclear products, services and technologies,” he said, adding: “At the centre of this new partnership is value creation… we believe the US Government’s participation in the partnership creates the right incentives to deploy its full suite of tools behind the construction of Westinghouse reactors, including financial, regulatory, policy and diplomatic support.”
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright noted: “This historic partnership with America’s leading nuclear company will help unleash President Trump’s grand vision to fully energise America and win the global AI race. President Trump promised a renaissance of nuclear power, and now he is delivering.”
The transactions and other matters contemplated by the term sheet with the US Government are subject to obtaining required regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary conditions. Cameco, Westinghouse and Brookfield noted that, in presenting forward-looking information, they “made material assumptions which may prove incorrect”. Among other things this includes “the success of the Westinghouse nuclear reactor technology and Westinghouse’s ability to construct and commence commercial operations at new large-scale nuclear power plants”.
Although Westinghouse pioneered commercial nuclear power, delivering the world’s first commercial pressurised water reactor in 1957, the company (then owned by Toshiba) declared bankruptcy in 2017 after years of rising costs and delays. In 2018, Toshiba completed the sale of Westinghouse’s holding company to Brookfield Business Partners (a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management). In 2022, Brookfield Renewable Partners (another subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management) and Cameco acquired Westinghouse Electric from Brookfield Business Partners. Brookfield and Cameco formally acquired Westinghouse in November 2023.
Westinghouse’s bankruptcy led to two AP1000 reactors under construction at the VC Summer NPP in South Carolina being cancelled. The two AP1000s under construction at Vogtle 3&4 in Georgia were completed seven years late and $17bn over budget. These were the first new NPPs to be built in the US for 30 years. The only other operating AP1000s are four units in China at the Haiyang and Sanmen NPPs, which also faced delays and were completed with Chinese assistance. Before this, the last reactor built by Westinghouse was the Watts Bar NPP. Construction began in 1972 and was suspended in 1985, before being resumed. The reactor entered commercial operation in 1996.
As of late 2025, there are no operational AP1000 reactors in Europe. However, the technology has been selected for nuclear energy programmes in several European countries, with projects in planning or construction in Poland, Bulgaria and Ukraine. Westinghouse has contracted other companies to undertake the actual construction. Agreements to explore the deployment of AP1000s have also been signed with companies in Slovakia, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.
